Game Design Concepts : My “Homeplay” Assignments

So, I’m doing Ian Schreibers online “Game Design Concepts” course. It’s been great so far, and I’m learning quite a lot. This is a post that I’ll keep updating throughout the Game Design Concepts course, just so I can keep track of my work easily. I may split it up into multiple posts or pages, if need be.

My work

(These assignments are completed in a set time, and are generally early prototypes in need of further playtesting and development to become decent games. Some are experiments that are unlikely to ever become decent games … while others may be developed further in the future)

Level 5 Challenge:TBC. Make a rule change to the dice game Bluff to eliminate the positive feedback loop (which comes about due to the information assymetry between winning player and losing players).

Level 6 Challenge:TBC

Some notes on some ‘art game’ playings:

Passage: Mechanic reminds me of Ico (Playstation2) – your movement is restricted by your NPC partner which must follow you (potentially a dead weight, although one you aparrently don’t mind, indicated by the little love heart upon meeting). Aesthetic/Surface, despite being ‘lowfi’, reminds me of the feel of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon”, particularly the track Breathe. Damn you artists for making use think about inevitable things we can’t change and don’t want think about !

Level 8 Challenge: Create a concept for a game that is built to appeal specifically to griefers (ie player killers in MUD terms, campers or teamkillers in FPS terms).My notes are here. I never posted these to the official forum since it’s still a bit of a ramble and needs refinement – I couldn’t bear to subject the other course participants to actually wading through the text, but it’s posted here anyhow just in case you have precious time to kill (yeh right :) ).

Level 9 Challenge:Create an embedded backstory for the game “Pente“. What is the setting? What do the pieces represent? Why are you placing them? Attempt to make the backstory that fit the mechanics. TBC.